NBA draft season has come and gone, but it certainly was fun while it lasted.
Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green and Evan Mobley were taken in succession at the top of the draft, and they remain as the top three in WynnBET’s odds to win the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award.
However, there were some big movers following the draft on July 29. As always with professional sports drafts, there were plenty of surprises, and that has led to a shift in the odds at WynnBET.
The Toronto Raptors shocked everyone by taking Scottie Barnes at No. 4 over Jalen Suggs, who fell to the Orlando Magic at No. 5. Suggs had been the consensus fourth-best player in the draft in many mock drafts, but Toronto opted for the versatile Barnes to begin retooling its roster.
Barnes and Suggs are still tied at +550 for the best odds to win the award, but it will be interesting to see how each player fits with his new squad.
The San Antonio Spurs made the biggest gamble of the lottery by taking Josh Primo at No. 12 over the likes of Chris Duarte (No. 13 to the Indiana Pacers) and Moses Moody (No. 14 to the Golden State Warriors).
The draft also saw several point guards such as Sharife Cooper (No. 48 to the Atlanta Hawks) fall in the draft. Cooper still has +4000 odds on WynnBET to win the NBA’s Rookie of the Year, but it will be hard for him to do while playing behind Trae Young.
Here are the best movers up and down the odds list at WynnBET following the draft:
Alperen Sengun, Forward/Center, Houston Rockets
Sengun, an international prospect from Turkey, was expected to land somewhere in the lottery, but the Rockets made a deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder to select him at No. 16.
The Rockets second pick of the first round, Alperen Sengun, was considered the top analytics-driven talent in the draft.
— Lance Zierlein (@LanceZierlein) July 30, 2021
The big man opened with +2500 odds to win Rookie of the Year, but he’s now in a tie for ninth at +1750 with Josh Giddey (who went No. 6 to the Thunder).
It’s a major move for Sengun, but it seems oddsmakers like his chances to make an immediate impact on a rebuilding Rockets team alongside forward Christian Wood. Last season, Sengun put up 19.2 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game while shooting 64.6 percent from the field.
Moses Moody, Wing, Golden State Warriors
Moody is one of my favorite prospects in this rookie class, and he couldn’t have landed in a better situation than with the Golden State Warriors.
However, Golden State also took forward Jonathan Kuminga at No. 7, which puts some question marks on Moody’s role heading into the 2020-21 campaign.
Kuminga is regarded as much more of a project than Moody, as the University of Arkansas product projects to be a solid 3-and-D wing with his catch-and-shoot ability.
Moody’s odds still fell, likely because he will be on a team that features Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, from +2500 to +3000 after the draft. Moody should be a solid rotation player for Golden State, but he may not get the opportunities to have a major season and win Rookie of the Year.
Jared Butler, Guard, Utah Jazz
Butler fell a little bit further than expected, as did other point guards, but the Jazz selected him at No. 40 in the second round of the draft.
Malcolm Brogdon won the Rookie of the Year as a second-round pick (No. 36 overall) in the 2016 NBA Draft, but Butler will face an uphill battle to accomplish that feat.
WynnBET has moved his odds from +2500 to +3000 to win the award after his fall in the draft. Playing on a veteran-heavy team like Utah won’t help, but that doesn’t mean he can’t have a solid career.
Nikola Jokic, a second-round pick in 2014, just won the league’s MVP award this past season, and Brogdon has parlayed his strong rookie campaign into a great career.
There are several second-rounders that break through to prove people wrong, but don’t expect Butler to do it in the form of winning the Rookie of the Year award.
Who do you think wins NBA Rookie of the Year? Make your pick now on WynnBET.